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Thursday, June 28, 2007

Iphone set to hit shelves tomorrow

But is it going to live up to all the hype? According to most analysts no!

After five months of increasing hype, tomorrow marks the day for the consumers to find out if the Iphone is really "all that". Sink or swim? Best damn piece of consumer electronics gear ever or just another phone? We'll have to wait and see, but in the mean time we can read up on the reasons not to have Iphone envy

Iphone Drawbacks:
From a slow data network to a sealed battery, here are some of the drawbacks to consider before you buy the season's hot phone.

Limited network speeds: iPhone will not run over AT&T Inc.'s highest-speed 3G network based on high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) technology. The iPhone will only run over AT&T's 2.5G enhanced data rate for GSM evolution (EDGE) network. HSDPA supports download speeds of 400Kbit/sec. to 700Kbit/sec. and bursts up to 1Mbit/sec. However the
EDGE network only averages download speeds of 70Kbit/sec. to 135Kbit/sec.
AT&T has acknowledged this potential problem by announcing upgrades to its EDGE network in anticipation of the iPhone launch. And of course, the iPhone will support Wi-Fi, which will make Web page downloads much more feasible if you're in range of a hotspot.

Limited third-party apps: Lots of cell phone power users get more value out of the applications they've loaded on their handsets themselves than the often lame or expensive offerings from their carriers. When the iPhone was first announced, third-party apps seemed shut out entirely, a move that prompted one online petition of protest. Now Apple says that developers can create iPhone apps that run in Safari. Only two problems with that: First, those apps may be fairly poky given the iPhone's slower EDGE network connection. Second, many developers seem to hate writing for Safari. As PC World forums member dazeddan said, "As a developer, we have more problems designing around Safari than any other platform. I wish it would just go away."It costs how much?! You've probably already heard about the iPhone's astronomical price: $500 for a 4GB model and $600 for 8GB. But you may not have calculated all the other costs associated with buying one. You'll have to make a two-year commitment to AT&T at a per-month cost that starts at $60, recent reports say (though that includes unlimited data access, something AT&T often charges $40 for on smart phones). And unlike with pretty much every other phone in the world, making that commitment doesn't knock down the price, it's just a requirement. Plus, if you're in the midst of a prior two-year commitment with a competing carrier, your cost of iPhone ownership could be further inflated by the early termination penalty you'll pay your current carrier. And finally, AT&T doesn't always receive high marks for its service. You may be okay with the deal now, but how will you feel in a year if the iPhone is no longer the coolest handset on the planet?Businesspeople need not apply: It's a safe bet that many professionals will want an iPhone. But BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Palm, and Symbian smart phones offer a long list of business-related features that the iPhone apparently won't, at least upon release. For instance, while the iPhone apparently will connect with Exchange servers, it will require some security trade-offs that could make your IT department nervous. There's no word on connecting to Domino servers. And though you can open Word and Excel files on the iPhone, you can't edit them.Don't even try to swap that battery: Like the original iPod, the iPhone has its battery enclosed in a superslim case among tightly negotiated electronics and behind a top surface of glass--reducing the chances of a DIY battery replacement to next to nil. So if your battery life dwindles to roughly 6.5 minutes per charge, or the battery malfunctions, you'll have to send your iPhone in for repair.